two back-to-back Vegas trips.  I’m running on empty.  I have been beefing up on the exercise – still determined to lose the popping fresh dough wad that rose on my tummy and can’t seem to be kneaded down – and not much sleep the last few days has sent a spiral of  ‘you crazy bitch, what are you trying to do to me?’ from my body.  I got about 5 hours of sleep last night, crawled out to some website work, emails, and IM chats, had my half cup of coffee with PBJ on winter wheat (Orowheat makes it), and got ready for my walk with Amy.  It’s overcast, and there was a slight breeze when we started.  We made almost 3 miles and the last half of it was spent with the wind picking up speed and working on sending us to Kansas.  Love the desert!

The wind has officially gone screamer mode!  Kee-rist!  I’m so happy to be inside the coach right now.

I got new meds for BP and cholesterol from my Dr. visit last week.  A little bit of being light headed, a few stabbers of pain in the head now and then (yah, expect that shit when you take this stuff as you ‘acclimate’) and my BP is down to a very decent level.  I asked my Dr. why my BP was too high, there really is no concrete answer except hereditary, possibly your kidneys send responses with too little fluid/too much fluid/not enough good drugs/not nearly enough chocovine/like who the hell knows.  The weirdtard part of it is, that if one followed my diet, I don’t eat a lot of anything or do a lot of anything that should keep my BP out of control.  So…resigned to more exercise, losing the doughwad middle, and continuing on until hell freezes over.

On getting my taxes done, for those of you who are looking for help, visit efile and ask for Saundra.  She set up my corporation and has done my taxes for the last 3 years.  She got me into an S Corp (ha!  same thing Andy Beal has – yes, he’s a great role model) and even though I don’t understand all of it – yet – I trust her judgment and believe it is a very good thing for me…especially with the way it turned out this year.  Hard working grannies that never milked a husband/ex-husband for all his dough (that was for the benefit of you boys that think women get all the goods and leave the poor guy stranded like a beached whale waiting for the sun to rot his bones) need help in preserving their sanity and left over pennies at tax time.

Monday wound down with me being stranded at Costco waiting for contact from my Dr.’s office to the pharmacy for the strength of one of my scrips.  Long story, short ending.  It all worked out but there was some frustration before it did.  And why are all of Costco’s drugs pink?  So far I have 3 scrips filled with them – one more coming in early March – and they are all pink or coral.  SHIT-e-e-e-e-e-e!  Now I have to really pay attention to what I’m taking.

After very little sleep on Monday night, I was up early and managed some website work, the walk with Amy, and then off to Vegas shortly after the truck driving duo hit the road.  I planned to meet Marie at the Venetian before the time set to meet Tony G. I called Claudia and as we jabbered it up on the drive in, I asked if she was interested in coming to the Venetian, she was.  All three of us met at the Food Court but before they got there, Bernard Lee sat down at a table next to me, I went over and intro’d myself, snapped his picture and we exchanged business cards.

Marie’s daughter Denise was in town and she stopped over for a few minutes also – and while I was the only one that ordered food, we had a great visit.  They kept me entertained until it was time to meet The G.

Of course the NAPT main event final was playing down, there were poker players coming out of the walls and cracks, oozing out of the carpeting and tables filled the area between the poker room and the sportsbook.  Jennifer was live blogging the PokerStars event, and I did manage a very brief hello with her before she raced back to her ‘day’ job.

I met Tony and we headed to the area where the NAPT $25K High Rollers event would be held.  It was interesting, we talked as we walked and when we entered the room, we stepped off to one side as Tony said hello to two guys, they introduced themselves to me, and the four of us stood in conversation that I contributed very little to but was part of.  Daniel Negreanu came in, walked up to Tony, stepped right in front of me like I was part of the woodwork, with his back to me, looked over his shoulder at me with two quick glances, and then proceeded to ignore the fact that I had been part of the group until he got there.  It’s laughable to a degree.  Perhaps if I’d had my Bellagio dealer shirt on he would’ve remembered he knew me from somewhere…yes, I’m being a bit sarcastic.  I can’t think of one reason that he should specifically remember me, yet we’ve had more than one conversation over the years and I dealt to him for years, I also can’t think of one reason that he would be so rude as to walk in and see a foursome in conversation and then decide the female should be ignored and step in front of her, excluding her from the group.  He spoke with Tony for a moment and then left.  See ya, whatever your name is poker player hotshot!

Tony and I went over to the table that was set up for media and sat down to visit.  I have to tell you, I find him to be delightfully funny, quick minded, a very strong business person, and my friend.  We laughed our asses off over the Ralph Perry youtube where Tony shreds Perry – and the Mangalor youtube.  I dealt to Ralph as far back as when he played $20-40 H at the Mirage.  He’s never been high on my list of real people that play poker and if I could’ve been in Tony’s role in that game, I would’ve have loved to shred him too.  BTW, Tony’s work outs and eating healthy is paying off, he’s quite lean and trim.

The feature table was empty when we first started our visit but soon the dealers were called over to get their instructions from the PokerStars crew member.

Our visit was fun but soon to end as the heat Tony was playing in would begin within a few minutes and I still had to walk back to Wynn to retrieve the Steed from the top floor of the parking garage and make the drive home.  As we walked over to find a beverage, Tony and I parted, and I found Joe Cada.  I intro’d myself to him and we spoke briefly.  He’s very cute, nicely energetic, and nice direct eyes as he speaks.  I thanked him for being so strong in the media after his win because we need exposure to the government and people and online poker needs solid representatives.  He said that after that final table, he felt it was the least he could do.  I laughed and told him I thought it was all pretty impressive.

One thing I found interesting, Chris Moneymaker was there, he seemed extremely alone – perhaps you would have to see it to get the picture…not lonely…but alone.  He was on the move, walking, stopping, leaving the area and immediately walking back in.  It’s amazing that his name is entwined with the words, ‘online poker’ and yet it’s as if he’s sealed off somewhere and passed over by everyone.  I dealt to him at Bellagio a few times.  He never seems to say much.  Too bad he couldn’t get 1/10 of 1 penny for every time some wrote his name or said it.  Kee-rist!  I’m surprised he hasn’t had to get a new name, that one has to be worn out by now.

As I left that area, I saw John Caldwell on the house phone, he was trying to roust a young player out of his room.  John is one of my favorite people.

Then down through the casino and the poker area, out onto Las Vegas Blvd.  I used to roller blade the strip.  There were no pedestrian sky walks or escalators or high definition marquees that look better than a lot of televisions in those days but for some reason, the Strip looked ‘alone’ – not lonely, but alone – shades of Moneymaker past.  It was tame, quiet almost.  When I hit the sky walk over Twain there was music in the air.